Jack rocks investigated by sheriffs office

Published: December 29, 2003 7:00 PM

The Guernsey County Sheriffs Office continued to investigate a string of potentially dangerous incidents involving salaried employees at the Metallurg Vanadium plant on Route 209, a suspected by-product of an ongoing strike at the facility.

Numerous devices, identified as nail jacks or jack rocks, were left in the driveways of several salaried employees in Guernsey, Muskingum and Carroll counties, according to the sheriffs office.

The incidents appear to be strike related. We have not seen this type of device used since the truck drivers strike several years ago, said Guernsey County Sheriff Mike McCauley. And, because these devices are putting people in harms way, this is being treated as a felony offense.

The nail jacks or jack rocks consist of nails bent at a 90-degree angle and then joined together with a weld. All of the exposed ends are then sharpened.

Over 150 of the devices alone were reportedly discovered by security in the parking lot at the Metallurg Vanadium plant. The devices have also reportedly been left in several driveways.

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The devices are designed to flatten or damage vehicle tires.

McCauley said there were no suspects in custody, but the source or sources of the devices are traceable.

Locally, the sheriffs office received reports from residents of Patton Hollow Road, Cubbison Road and Oakridge Lane reporting such devices left in the driveway. Cambridge police took a report from a business owner saying similar devices had been left in his lot. The man reported he makes deliveries to the plant.

Metallurg Vanadium is a division of Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corp.

The plant is operating with temporary workers and security provided by International Management Assistance Corporation (IMAC).

Prior to a strike vote by union workers, Metallurg Vanadium and Local 4836 officials had been in negotiations since the workers contract expired on June 6, 2003.

When the negotiations reached an impasse, the company implemented its last contract offer and the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the implementation of the contract.

The NLRB reportedly rejected the complaint in late November, dismissing it in favor of Metallurg Vanadium. The union scheduled its meeting after receiving the news from the NLRB, prompting the strike vote.